Lucky you... you get to read it too.
I woke up at 4:30 am on Saturday September 26th to go tinkle. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and started walking back to bed... all of a sudden I felt leaking. My first thought was that I had peed my pants (this happens sometimes when you're pregnant) I went back to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. There was more... and more... and more. Suddenly it clicked, my water broke!
I called out to daddy,
"Curtis" no answer,
"Curtis" (a little louder) still no answer,
"Curtis" (really loud this time)
"What?" he yelled back
"My water broke"
He came running to the bathroom door.
"Really?"
"Uh, yeah"
"What do we do"
"We should probably go to the hospital"
We had taken a childbirth prep class and they told us what to do when the time comes, but shock, fear and excitement must have taken over and he had no clue what to do in that moment. I wasn't feeling any contractions if I was having them, so we decided to call the doctor and see what they wanted us to do. She told us to get up and around and start heading to the hospital, that she would call and let them know we were coming in.
Daddy started running around the house like a mad man, getting dressed, getting a bag packed for himself, and collecting yours and my bags that I had already packed in preparation for the big day.
He went out to take the bags to car and unbeknownst to me to start the car while I was in the shower. When he came in he rushed into the bathroom to see what was taking me so long. He couldn't figure out why I was taking a shower at a time like this. I wasn't feeling any contractions and felt pretty good, so I got in the shower to clean up and shave my... ahem Girl Parts. The whole world was about to see it and I wanted to make sure it was presentable. He paced the house while I finished getting ready and we headed to the hospital.
I had the brilliant idea to stop and get breakfast at McDonalds, I was thinking that I was going to be in labor for 16+ hours and I knew they wouldn't feed me, so by golly... I was going to eat. I had 2 pancakes and an orange juice, it was delicious.
We called Mema and Grandma Trish and told them that you were coming, but that it would probably take awhile so to come up around 10 or 11. We arrived to the hospital around 6 am, got into our room, I got changed into a gown, and they hooked me up to the monitor. I was dilated to one and having contractions, but wasn't feeling them. Phil Demmas mom, Jodi who is an RN in the maternity ward was just getting off her shift at 7 am and asked if she could stay with us for a little while... of course we said yes, it's always great to have a familiar face when you're going through something you've never done before.
About 30 minutes later I started feeling some cramping every now and then, nothing bad. In the next hour things got much worse, I was starting to hurt pretty bad, my back, my stomach, I couldn't lay down because it was uncomfortable. So I walked around the room, took a shower, sat on the toilet, squatted, walked some more and of course... threw up my pancakes. Yuk. Apparently it's not a good idea to eat on your way to deliver a baby.
From the beginning I had decided I didn't want an epidural... I wanted to have a natural birth. Well by 7:30 am I had changed my mind. I was in excruciating pain and I asked for the epidural. They brought the waiver in and I signed it, next step was to check me and see where we were at. A little before 8:00 they checked and me and told me it was too late for the epidural, I was dilated to 9 and they said I would be pushing soon. Yikes! It all happened so fast, 2 hours ago I didn't feel anything, now they're telling me you're coming soon. Daddy and I hurried and called everyone, we thought they could take their time coming to the hospital, but you were coming fast and if they didn't hurry, they might miss it.
Mema and Grandma Trish came into the room when they got to the hospital, and although I was skeptical about having anyone there other than daddy, I changed my mind. I told them all (Jodi, Mema and Grandma) that they could stay, but I wanted them to sit behind me where I couldn't see them during the delivery... I didn't want any stage fright if I was trying to push and they were looking.
By 9:00 it was almost go time. I couldn't sit, I just kept walking around and during every contraction, the only comfortable position was squatting. Jan (the midwife that delivered you) tried to check me while I was having a contraction, but couldn't get a good look. So they laid me on the bed and she checked me, I was almost ready to push. What they told me to do and what my body told me to do were 2 different stories. They didn't want me pushing until I was totally effaced, but I had to. During my contractions, I did small pushes, I couldn't stop myself, I had to. When the time came to really push it was about 9:30, Jan put a bar across the bottom of the bed for me to put legs and they tried to "teach" me how to push without pushing my legs into the bar, it was just there for support. I couldn't do it. So a plan was made, I was going to squat at the bottom of bed and deliver that way. It was the most comfortable position for me. The mattress was taken off the bottom half of the bed exposing a metal platform. I was able to hold on to the bar and stay in a squatting position while I pushed. After a few big contractions I realized that no one was behind me, everyone was standing at the bottom of the bed, but I didn't care who saw what, I was ready for you to be born. I pushed a couple times while squatting, but my legs were getting very tired. Jan brought in a birthing stool for me to sit on. The bed was raised up about 2 1/2 feet, I sat on the stool, held on to the bar and we were ready to rock.
When I felt a contraction coming, I took a deep breath and pushed with all my might. It wasn't like in the movies where everyone counted to ten, took a break and then counted again. No one counted, when I felt a contraction I pushed as hard as I could, for as long as I could throughout. In between I rested and even found some time to crack some jokes. I told daddy at some point, that was never having sex again! Of course everyone thought it was funny, but in that moment, I was being dead serious. After another contraction my nurse (you had a nurse and I had one too) asked me if there was anything she could do for me... my response "yeah, you give birth to this baby and I'll sit and watch" Seriously, what could she do for me at that point? About 10 minutes before you born I asked for a piece of gum. I realized that every time I exhaled after pushing, that I was blowing in Jans face... what if I had bad breath? Jan and both of the nurses said that they had never had anyone ask for gum during delivery... I guess most people don't care if their breath stinks, I do. I pushed for about 45 minutes and Jan told me you were close. She told me when I felt burning that it was you coming out... I felt it, and I when I did I pushed harder and harder until I felt your head come out and they told me to stop pushing, on my next contraction I was to give a small push until they told me to stop, I did... next thing I knew there you were here. 10:22 am. My beautiful baby girl, 10 fingers, 10 toes and completely perfect. Jan immediately handed you to me and daddy and I both cried as we looked at you. I wish I didn't have to feel the pain, but it was amazing to feel you leave my body and to enter the world!
The rest is pretty much history, daddy cut your umbilical cord while I held you, I delivered the placenta, they gave me a couple stitches and we quickly settled in to our new roles as mommy and daddy. It was hard work, but all worth it. I got the most amazing gift I could ever dream of... you!!
On a completely different note - HAPPY EASTER!
1 comment:
HAHAHAAAA!!! I love it! You asked for gum! I pretty sure I would have too.
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